THE TOWN OF GREENBURGH. 289 



bang went the great goose-gun ; a shower of slugs and buck-shot whistled about 

 the ears of the enemy, and, before the boat could reach the shore, Jacob had 

 scuttled up some woody ravine, and left no trace behind. 



"About this time the Roost experienced a vast accession of warlike importance, 

 in being made one of the stations of the water-guard. 



" This was a kind of aquatic corps of observation, composed of long, sharp 

 canoe-shaped boats, technically called whale-boats, that lay lightly on the water, 

 and could be rowed with great rapidity. They were manned by resolute fellows, 

 skilled at pulling an oar or handling a musket. These lurked about in nooks 

 and bays, and behind those long promontories which run out into the Tappan 

 Sea, keeping a look-out, to give notice of the approach or movements of hostile 

 ships. They roved about in pairs, sometimes at night, with muffied oars, glid- 

 inglike spectres about frigates and guard-ships riding at anchor ; cutting off any 

 boat that made for shore, and keeping the enemy in constant uneasiness. These 

 mosquito cruisers generally kept aloof by day, so that their harboring places 

 might not be discovered, but would pull quietly along, under shadow of the 

 shore, at night, to take up their quarters at the Roost. Hither, at such time, 

 would also repair the hard-riding lads of the hills, to hold secret councils of war 

 with the ' ' ocean chivalry , " and in these nocturnal meetings, were concerted 

 many of those daring forays, by land and water, that resounded throughout the 

 border." 



The chronicle here goes on to recount divers wonderful stories of the 

 wars of the Roost, from which it would seem that this little warrior nest 

 carried the terror of its arms into every sea from Spiting Devil Creek to 

 St. Anthony's Nose ; that it even bearded the stout island of Manhattan, 

 invading it at night, penetrating to its centre, and burning down the 

 famous DeLancey house, the conflagration of which makes such a blaze 

 in revolutionary history. Nay, more ; in their extravagant daring, these 

 cocks of the Roost meditated a nocturnal descent upon New York itself, 

 to swoop upon the British commanders, Howe and Clinton, by surprise, 

 bear them off captive, and, perhaps, put a triumphant close to the 

 war. 



" This doughty Dutchman (continues the sage Diedrich Knickerbocker) was 

 not content with taking a share in all the magnanimous enterprises concocted at 

 the Roost, but still continued his petty warfare along shore. A series of exploits 

 at length raised his confidence in his prowess to such a height, that he began to 

 think himself and his goose-gun a match for anything. Unluckily, in the 

 Course of one of his prowlings, he descried a British transport aground, not far 

 from shore, with her stern swung towards the land within point-blank shot. 

 The temptation was too great to be resisted ; bang I as usual went the great 

 goose-gun, shivering the cabin windows, and driving all hands forward. Bang ! 

 bang ! the shots were repeated. The reports brought several sharp-shooters of 

 the neighborhood to the spot : before the transport could bring a gun to bear, or 

 land a boat, to take revenge, she was soundly peppered, and the coast evacuated. 

 She was the last of Jacob's triumphs. He fared, like some heroic spider, that 



